


The only family I'm ever gonna need

by rhyfel



Series: Julie and the Future [4]
Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Gen, Introspection, Post-Canon, Post-Season/Series 01
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-07
Updated: 2021-01-07
Packaged: 2021-03-17 14:22:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28601382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rhyfel/pseuds/rhyfel
Summary: One day, Julie wakes up and realizes she’s surrounded by ghosts. She’s always known of course, and it’s not that people didn’t tell her. But it’s different realizing it.Just a little introspection about the fact that living with ghosts has got to be weird. Takes place after season 1.
Relationships: Alex Mercer & Julie Molina & Luke Patterson & Reggie Peters
Series: Julie and the Future [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1990222
Comments: 4
Kudos: 53





	The only family I'm ever gonna need

One day, Julie wakes up and realizes she’s surrounded by ghosts. She’s always _known_ of course, and it’s not that people didn’t _tell_ her. But it’s different realizing it.

From the very beginning Flynn said Luke didn’t exist, reminded her that he was dead. Her dad loved the guys, but would constantly push her to “go out” and “enjoy life.” When she told him she did, he’d get this look on his face, like she didn’t understand what he meant.

She does now.

She used to have lots of friends. But when her mom died suddenly no one wanted to be around the depressed half orphan. Then the band came and people _wanted_ to be her friend again. Or, at least, they wanted to hang out with Julie of Julie and the Phantoms. She tried for a while, going to parties, gigs, even bars and clubs once she was older. But it was hard. She had to constantly lie to people about the guys. Had to say “They’re from Sweden” and “They don’t really like meeting people” and “No, I don’t want to go on a date with you, I’m dating someone from the band, no he’s not here for you to meet, we’re doing a long distance thing, it’s complicated.”

The guys usually kept out of her way when she tried to socialize with the living, but slowly she realized she almost always had a ghost shadow. Luke and Reggie really only had her and each other, Alex had Willie, but they didn’t spend all their time together, and it turns out that opportunities for socializing are depressingly low for ghosts. There’s a reason so many were willing to sell their souls to join the Hollywood Ghost Club.

When she realized that at least one of them was always around when she was with friends, she tried to include them. They were her band - her family - they came first. It didn’t work. For reasons that really should have been obvious. She couldn’t talk with them without people thinking she was hallucinating. Flynn got tired of only hearing half a conversation. The guys became depressed the longer they were around people who couldn't see them.

She slowly stops going out. The guys don’t mention it, but she could tell they were happier that she was around more. They’d spend most nights in and she’d only see other people – _living people –_ when they played a show or she needed to go to meetings with her agent. Her brother invited her to his wedding and she didn’t know how to interact with the other guests. Her aunts and uncles constantly asked her about marriage, kids, why they didn’t see her on family vacations anymore.

But. She doesn’t _care_ about those things. She cares about the guys. And she can’t go to Italy or Peru or the grocery store without wishing she could talk to them.

She isn’t dead. But her entire life revolves around it.

And the thing is, she’s happy. She’s happy with only having her ghosts and her dad and her brother and Flynn. She’s happy staying in and playing cooperative games because Luke is a sore loser and Alex is surprisingly competitive and Reggie is just plain good at board games. She’s happy buying a potter’s wheel so Reggie can learn how to throw pots and huge fantasy books because Luke secretly loves them and a pool table that Alex gets really good at. She’s happy.

It’s just, once she realizes, she wonders if she should be. She thinks about all of the things she’s missing out on. Kissing Luke in public. Marriage. Kids. But mostly, sharing her life with other people. Not even in a meaningful way, but just. She can’t make small talk with people in the elevator because Luke is there with lyric ideas and he has her full attention. She can’t tell the lighting designer she normally works with what she’s done since they last saw each other because “I just hung out with my ghost friends” isn’t going to fly. She can’t go on Twitter and tell people about the funny interaction Reggie and Alex just had without millions of people asking if they guys are in town.

She’s in the public eye and she has three people who are so funny and smart and support her wholeheartedly and she can’t share them.

Because they’re dead.

You’d think being friends with people already dead meant less worry. They can’t get sick, or injured, or die again. They won’t leave, because they have nowhere to go. And yet. And yet how can she build a life with them? Will she look back in ten, twenty, thirty years and resent them? Will she regret their time together? Will she wish for something different than she had?

Will they?

Sometimes they talk about what would have happened if they hadn't died and Julie feels so guilty because without their death, her life would be so much emptier. And there it is. She loves them, and she wants to be with them for the rest of her life and into the afterlife.

One day Julie wakes up and realizes she's surrounded by ghosts.

She wouldn't change a thing.

**Author's Note:**

> Come chat with me at https://rhyming-fellowship.tumblr.com.


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